|
 |
| The Course |
| Introduction to the course |
A little history without tears
Though it was probably easy for prehistoric man to appreciate
the edible fruit of the vine and enjoy the grapes, the discovery
that the juice of this fruit, left forgotten in some simple
container, could change and take on a different state was almost
certainly an accident. This strange drink had a pleasant effect,
causing drunkenness in those who drank it. In the past, for
this reason, fermented grape juice was often used in religious
ceremonies; in the absence of scientific ideas the changes caused
by alcohol were regarded as being in some way magical and linked
to the gods.
But when did people 'get drunk' for the first time? Archaeological
finds show that the climbing plant Vitis vinifera was already
present as a wild plant 300,000 years ago. The first signs of
vines cultivated by human beings appear around 8,000 years before
Christ in Asia, the cradle of vinegrowing, especially in the
regions of Georgia and Armenia on the far side of the Caucasus.
From there the culture of the vine spread east through Asia
into China. Only later did it spread to the west, reaching Europe
thanks to the Greeks some time between the 7th and 8th centuries
before Christ.
The Romans then carried on the tradition, taking vines and wine
everywhere. The Imperial legions which moved around mainland
Europe were actually obliged to plant salads (reflected in the
word 'romana' for a type of salad) and vines in their camps.
With the Romans wine enjoyed a real boom, as trade developed
and people started to study viticulture. Pliny the Elder wrote
the first 'Guide to Wine' and his Natural History (Naturalis
Historia) listed 80 winegrowing areas and 185 wines. It is clear
that the idea of 'terroir' or special local areas is of ancient
origin.
Meanwhile the Gauls learned about of the properties of vines
and wine. They invented wooden barrels, revolutionising the
world of wine, and developed a more frost-resistant variety
of vine, which gave rise to the vineyards of Burgundy.
At the end of the third century AD peoples of Germanic stock
swept away the Romans, along with their culture, habits and
ideals, including their dietary tastes. Fruit and vegetables
were replaced by meat, banquets became a 'barbarian' thing and
beer and mead, the traditional fermented drinks of northern
Europe, took the place of wine.
These centuries and those which followed were unstable times
for Europe. Vinegrowing was abandoned and it is only thanks
to Christian monks that the tradition was continued. For the
Christian religion wine was a vital element in the Mass, which
is why a vineyard was found next to every church and ecclesiastical
cellars always held stocks of the important beverage. Wine picked
up again in the 11th century in the reign of Charlemagne, hand
in hand with the beginning of a social and economic upturn in
Europe. Wine consumption continued to grow, with an explosion
in feudal society: the poorest classes drank 'to forget' while
those who were wealthy made drinking a vice with its own refinements.
Viticulture (vinegrowing) and oenology (the art of winemaking)
developed, with techniques of grape-growing and winemaking becoming
ever more sophisticated; wine lost some of its secrets and became
more reliable. Much is owed to Louis Pasteur, who discovered
the role of yeasts and
the danger of oxygen.
Still largely unknown, however, were the enemies of the vine
which attacked vines in the nineteenth century. First to appear,
around 1850, was mildew - a fungus that attacks the vines -
which vinegrowers managed to defeat with sulphur, although this
took around ten years. Then came phylloxera,
a deadly parasite which was defeated only by grafting the vines
desired onto American rootstocks
which were immune.
But phylloxera revolutionised European winemaking by changing
the geography of vineyards. At the beginning of the 20th century
there had been a rush to plant large numbers of vines to meet
market needs, making wine with grapes from any part of Italy.
This meant that the wine arriving on Italian tables was of poor
quality. The end of the 'sixties saw the introduction of regulations
and the application of Controlled Appellation (Denominazioni
di Origine Controllata). An even greater was that of the consumers'
tastes; they began to demand a more sophisticated product. In
years to come there will probably be more labelling of wines
by grape variety - so-called international wines, produced all
over the world, which Italy could deal with by focusing on its
great heritage of native grape
varieties.
|
|
